is the sp 404 for me?

jl707 · Post by **jl707** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:21 am

what up everybody... heres my situation, i been on fl studio for awhile now and was tryin to get into the hardware world so i was saving up for an mpc.
anyways i had to invest in a new computer instead and i got a macbook..which as u may know doesnt run fl. im goin thru beat withdrawls lol.

i need to make beats on somethin and i dont need anything fancy, all i want is to chop up samples and make drum patterns. thats it. so there was only a couple things that kept me from buyin the sp in the first place;

apparently the pitch shifting sucks, which is somethin i need..
and pads dont cut off eachother

are these things easy to get around or am i gonna have to edit my samples in a software editor?

Paulj · Post by **Paulj** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:38 am

If you really need quality pitch shifting I wouldn't recommend the 404, but you can control the duration of sample playback using the "gate" function where the sample plays back as long as you're holding the pad down, however, you can't make the pads cut eachother off in the same way that, say an mpc does.

balazs · Post by **balazs** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:57 am

jl707 wrote:apparently the pitch shifting sucks, which is somethin i need..
and pads dont cut off eachother

are these things easy to get around or am i gonna have to edit my samples in a software editor?

yeah the pitch shifting on the SPs sucks. I thought that was a big problem when I first started. Once you get used to working without it you may benefit and enjoy it. And yeah the pads dont cut eachother off but like Paul said there is workarounds.

many of us here have/had more advanced machines like the MPC but choose to work with the SPs. Its def worth a try but the SPs aint for everybody.

jl707 · Post by **jl707** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 2:59 am

ah i see.. i think ill be good with that gate function..
also, could you explain to me how people go about chopping samples? im a lil confused about it...

drewzle · Post by **drewzle** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:17 am

jl707 wrote:also, could you explain to me how people go about chopping samples? im a lil confused about it...

record what you wish to chop onto Pad 1
using the Mark button, you then alter the start/end points of the sample
you do this to chop it into smaller parts
once you have a good chop, you Resample it to another pad
then you start the Mark process again to grab another different slice from Pad 1
which is then Resampled to another pad, and so on

it might sound tedious but it's very intuitive and creates some great slices because you rely on your ears and your hands rather than your eyes and a mouse : )

balazs · Post by **balazs** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:30 am

Drewzle wrote:it might sound tedious but it's very intuitive and creates some great slices because you rely on your ears and your hands rather than your eyes and a mouse : )

like an old school sampler. Nothing except your ears and hands.

reading about the chopping process may make it seem like a pain in the ass but most heads here would agree the workflow of the SPs is the best.

Dj Frantic · Post by **Dj Frantic** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:43 am

if u got a mac u got garageband. U can use garage band to pitch your samples then load them into the SP.

jl707 · Post by **jl707** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:47 am

ooh ok..thanks for the replies.. i might just have to get 1 now..
is there any videos of ppl chopping samples on the sp? id like to see how its done.. i kno theres that scottish kid on youtube but i dont think he has one.

Dj Frantic · Post by **Dj Frantic** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:30 am

ya, that kid chops on the computer. to chop on the SP what I do is I put the sample im gonna chop on put it on the top right corner pad. Then I hit the mark button to set where I want it to start. Then I resample that along with ne desired effects onto another pad and repeat the process till I got all the chops I need.

Hot Sauce · Post by **Hot Sauce** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:16 am

i was really sceptical about the chopping process on the 404 before i bought it as well but believe me you will get used to it in know time.

Antee · Post by **Antee** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:29 pm

The SP 404 is a fuckin hell machine...i love it! chopping samples is so quick and easy with the mark button...sometimes when i have a long sample i chop it into Acid Pro and load the chops into my SP...depends...the SP's sound is fat and can be dirty with the efx and the fucking lo fi mode (the efx are fuckin dope)...i love edit my drums and bass sound...the only two bad things for me are the pitch (i used Acid Pro to pitch my samples) and the 1 track sequencer...the sequencer in my opinion is not bad, i use it, i made all my beats into the SP except pitching and sometimes chopping samples, but i need more than 1 track for mixing shit...try it man!

jl707 · Post by **jl707** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:14 pm

thanks guys i think im gonna make the jump and buy it.. i think it fits my needs

DREWDANK · Post by **DREWDANK** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:56 am

ive been using it for about 8 months...dood its a good peice of meat
software is cool but you wont get that lo-fi beatness....
dood garage band is tight too

jl707 · Post by **jl707** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:13 am

ey yall.. i got one more question.. since i dont got a turntable or any records yet..is it possible to import a loop from my cpu to the sp and still use the mark button process to chop samples?

drewzle · Post by **drewzle** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:20 am

^ yup, definitely

load it onto a pad then use Mark to grab sections and Resample them to other pads

SP-FORUMS

is the sp 404 for me?

is the sp 404 for me?

Re: is the sp 404 for me?